Intro arc

Intro arc

Arc Info

Manga Chapters

Shiki is a boy who's always dreamed of making new friends from outside the Granbell Kingdom, his amusement park home filled with robots. He gets his wish when two young adventurers Rebecca and her talking blue cat, Happy come looking for interesting things to record for their B-Cube channel. So begins the tale of Shiki Granbell, who learns the world beyond Granbell is far bigger than he could have possibly imagined.

Contents

Under the night sky, a young boy named Shiki and two machines, the Demon King and Michael are watching a shooting star pass by. The Demon King tells Shiki the star is a dragon, while Michael says its a comet, much to Demon King's amusement. He then tells Shiki that one day, he should leave their home and see new lands and make all sorts of friends, calling them the most important thing in the world because they'll have your back and that if they cry for you, to never let them go. Shiki thinks he is talking about Michael, who says machines can't cry because they don't have hearts, to which Demon King says everyone has a heart no matter who they are.[1]

Years later, a young girl named Rebecca and her cat Happy arrive at the Granbell Kingdom to make videos for their Aoneko Channel. When the machines tell them that they're the first customers in a hundred years, they open up everything in the Kingdom and throw an elaborate opening, though Rebecca forgets to record it. Later they face a giant robot cat as part of a quest in the park when suddenly, Shiki jumps out and crushes it. Rebecca freaks out and punches Shiki when he starts poking her body, causing him to realize that she's a girl. Shiki then asks Rebecca and Happy to be friends, as he's never met another human before, which causes the two to panic and run back to the park, only to find that he followed them. Shiki introduces her to all the machines and proclaims that they are all good friends before they start celebrating their first customer with a party. Unknown to them, an archer machine watches them before heading to Granbell Castle to inform the king about their guests, saying the time has come.[2]

At the inn, Shiki tells Rebecca that he wants to leave and see the world, but he stays to fix up the machines. Once Shiki falls asleep, Michael tells her that the Demon King brought him to the island ten years ago as his grandson, and they've taken care of him since he broke down. The robots offer the two a room for the night, though not before Rebecca gives Shiki a haircut.[3]

The next morning, Shiki awakens to find his hair cut and everyone is missing. Elsewhere, Rebecca wakes up outside with her and Happy tied to stakes. As Shiki arrives, the King says they have been abandoned for a century by humans after becoming self-aware, which has made the robots despise humans. Thus, they intend to kill the two and use their ship to escape, even saying they only let Shiki live because of the Demon King, to his disbelief. As the machines beat the shocked Shiki into the ground, Rebecca tearfully asks them how they could say such things after all Shiki has done. Remembering what his grandpa said, that if he finds friends who will cry for him, never let them go, Shiki gains the will to fight and sends the machines flying before facing the King.[4]

Rebecca is freed thanks to Happy, who explains that Shiki possesses Ether Gear, an old power that uses his internal Ether supply to make his as strong as any machine. Shiki defeats the King with a single punch that causes the ground to collapse before rescuing Rebecca and Happy, revealing his Ether Gear of Gravity that allows him to float before. After flying them to their ship, the Aqua Wing, Shiki says he intends to stay behind, but Rebecca drags aboard and takes off. After they clear Granbell, Rebecca reveals that it was part of the Sakura Cosmos, with Aqua Wing being a spaceship. Just as Shiki understands that they are in space, the same shooting star he saw as a boy passes the ship, with Rebecca revealing it to be a Dragon.[5]

In the Granbell Kingdom, the King and Machines reveal that their actions were a ploy; years ago, they knew their batteries would soon die, so the Demon King begged them to send Shiki off, saying he will change the universe. As the robots begin to deactivate, Michael notes that if one were ever to feel such loneliness, they would not wish for a heart. As they leave the planet Granbell, Shiki tearfully says that the robots of Granbell were still his friends, thanking them and vowing never to forget any of them. As the trio begin their journey, Shiki decides that he's going to make a hundred friends in the universe, while it is noted that, in time, the whole universe will know his name: Shiki Granbell.[6]

As the Dragon continues to fly through space, it returns to a giant woman that dwarfs even it in size and tells her that Shiki has left Planet Granbell. She then wonders if Shiki will become a legendary hero or a demon king bringing total destruction.[7]

On the Aqua Wing, Rebecca introduces Shiki to B-Cube, a video sharing website where people use little cubes to post videos as B-Cubers. The people who get a lot of views earn money off of them, which Rebecca and Happy plan to do with their Aoneko Channel. The Cubes also censor out anything private, like Rebecca's underwear, as Shiki watches her turn it off. Rebecca then tells them they are headed to Blue Garden, where she plans to register Shiki as an "Adventurer" so he can go to many different stars. As Shiki gets pumped with excitement, Rebecca asks him to be her and Happy's bodyguard for a while, which he accepts as they arrive.[8]

Shiki is awed by the size of the buildings in Blue Garden and the number of different people, though Rebecca warns him that most people don't care about each other. When Shiki asks why she's wearing glasses, she says because she's a famous B-Cuber, even though Happy says they don't have many views. However, a thug places Happy in a glass jar, saying that he's from the Star Exxid and can get a small fortune selling him as he bolts away on his motorbike. Enraged, Shiki gives chase using his Ether Gear. Meanwhile, Rebecca remembers when she first met Happy, alone and abandoned like her. As Shiki chases the kidnapper through a crowd and seeing so many people, he yells that the thug is a bad guy, using his Gravity Ether Gear to throw him onto the ground.[9]

The thug gets back up and starts firing a gun into the air to scare off onlookers, as Shiki tells him to give Happy back, which the thug finds weird, but the cat says Rebecca gave it to him because he made her happy by being her friend. The thug's boss shows up wondering about the commotion, and the thug says he caught Happy and that they can sell him as Rebecca returns. The gang recognizes her from B-Cube and mistakes her catchphrase, to her dismay. Rebecca, enraged that they would kidnap Happy, tells them she will never forgive them if they hurt him, remembering how they spent her childhood together since they had no one else, promising to be together forever. Shiki then brings out his Ether Gear and makes short work of the thugs, while their boss whips out a minigun and starts shooting at Shiki and Rebecca, causing Happy's jar to break.[10]

In another flashback, it is revealed that Happy was run over by a truck in front of Rebecca, who tearfully begged someone to save him. In the present, Rebecca tells Happy she will never let him go again, as Happy then suddenly transforms into a robot, and then a pair of pistols, the Happy Blaster Form, that Rebecca wields, vowing to make the gang pay. Rebecca then uses them to deal headshots to the gang members, but as the Boss aims, Shiki grabs her and floats them into the air, saying it will help her aim. Rebecca then finishes the Boss with Happy, saying that since the Happy Blaster uses Ether Bullets, they won't die. Shiki then nervously wonders if Rebecca even needs a bodyguard.[11]

Afterward, Shiki exclaims he had no idea Happy was a machine with Rebecca explaining that after getting hit by the truck, he was rebuilt into a robotic form. Shiki remembers how she had that being friends goes beyond being human or machine, making him smile. At that moment, the trio arrives at the Adventurer's Guild, Shooting Starlight, with Rebecca saying their adventure is about to begin as Shiki gets excited. Meanwhile in another part of space, a pirate tells his boss that someone on Blue Garden had seen the Demon King's Grandson leave Granbell. Their boss, the Armored Space Pirate Elsie Crimson, then says the time has come and orders her crew to set a course for Blue Garden.[12]